Christine Dawood lost both her husband, Shahzada, and her son Suleman in the Titan submersible tragedy and has now revealed how the passengers spent their final moments on board before the vessel imploded.
In an interview with the New York Times, Ms. Dawood explained that her 48-year-old husband and 19-year-old son had been informed to wear thick socks and a hat on board the Titan due to the plunging temperatures towards the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
The passengers were also asked to make a playlist of their favorite songs, which could be played via Bluetooth during the descent. Suleman also took with him his Rubik's cube so he could attempt to solve the puzzle 3,700 meters beneath the ocean's surface. The feat would have earned him a Guinness World Record, with Shahzada bringing his camera to document the moment.
Suleman had been known to solve the cube in just 12 seconds. Shahzada, meanwhile, had reportedly been “so excited he was like a child” at the prospect of witnessing the Titanic wreckage firsthand.
Reliving her husband and son's final hours, Ms. Dawood told the NYT, “It was a good morning."
However, less than two hours after Titan disappeared beneath the surface, it would tragically implode, instantaneously killing all five passengers, including Stockton Rush, the founder and CEO of OceanGate and the pilot of the Titan. Ms. Dawood, who was on board the support ship with her daughter Alina, was assured that if communication was lost for over an hour, Titan would drop weights and return to the surface.
By late afternoon, Ms.Dawood was informed that no one knew where Titan was. “I was also looking out on the ocean, in case I could maybe see them surfacing,” she said.
OceanGate founder Rush had joked that "no country music" was allowed on board the Titan. Ms.Dawood's account claims that her husband and son were listening to their favorite songs as the submersible plunged into darkness, before it tragically imploded, killing them both as well as Rush, British businessman Hamish Harding, and French underwater explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
It has also been revealed that the majority of Titan's dives were unsuccessful, with very few actually offering up-close views of the Titanic. More missions were aborted than accomplished.
It has recently been reported that families of the 'Titan Five' could still take legal action despite having signed waivers that warned of the risk of death.
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